


The Red Paladin

by kittyroseX



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Injured Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Protective Keith (Voltron), Set after Season 4, a pair of softies, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 02:43:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13067451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyroseX/pseuds/kittyroseX
Summary: In which the former Red Paladin comes to the rescue of the current Red Paladin





	The Red Paladin

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction, pls be nice  
> TW: violence, blood, nothing too graphic but read at your own risk

Lance had been feeling better lately.

Things with the Voltron Coalition had been running smoothly, with more and more planets joining the rebellion against the Galra every day. The shows him and the rest of the paladins had been putting on were real crowd-pleasers. He and Matt had spent heaps of time together playing Killbot Phantasm I, the video game Pidge had helped Lance set up. The two of them had reached Level 34! What put Lance most at ease, however, was the unlikely alliance Team Voltron had formed with Zarkon’s son, Prince Lotor. At first, Lotor had seemed shady and untrustworthy, and Lance was more than a bit apprehensive around the half-Galra. Soon after Lotor stepped onto the ship, however, the team had been reassured by Allura that Lotor would be no threat to them. As it turns out, Lotor and Allura were childhood friends back on Altea, before Zarkon turned on the rest of the old paladins. Since Zarkon and Alfor had been close, so too were their children.

Lotor explained to the team his plans to over-throw his father, and was intent on doing so by all means necessary. He had described his desire to murder Zarkon with a blood-thirsty passion that sent a cold chill down Lance’s spine. Once Lotor had outlined his plans to Team Voltron, he then apologised for all the misfortune he had caused them, including their fight against the gang of half-Galra ladies from a few months back. Lance recalled the vicious way the women had fought, and was glad that Lotor was now on the same side as Voltron.

Things were going well, for the time being. The paladins had survived the explosion of planet Naxcela, thanks to Lotor’s intervention at the last second. Everyone was alive. That was what mattered most.

So what was this painful, hollow feeling of discontent in Lance’s chest? He almost felt a sense of incompleteness, as though something - or someone - was missing. He theorised that it could have something to do with a certain member of the Blade of Marmora, one that had been going on Blade missions separately to the rest of the paladins for the past few weeks. Lance would never admit this to anyone, but he missed Keith. Over the past couple of months, Lance had gained a soft spot for the former Red Paladin - he quietly admired his bravery, self-assurance and stubborn yet protective nature. Lance found his reckless and hotheaded personality oddly endearing. On top of this, Keith’s natural talent as both a fighter and pilot was something that Lance often found himself wishing he possessed. He, along with the rest of Team Voltron, had witnessed how much time Keith spent in the castle ship’s training room. ‘If only I had that level of dedication,’ Lance thought.

He sometimes found himself thinking back to a few months ago, when Keith had taken Shiro’s place as the Black Paladin while the latter was missing. Lance and Keith became closer than ever before; they had both reached out to each other, seeking emotional support and stability. Lance supported Keith in battle as his right-hand man, and reassured him when missions had gone awry. In turn, Keith valued the advice Lance gave him in battle, and offered him comfort when he had been insecure and worried about his place on the team. Lance was grateful for that.

Truthfully, Lance wanted Keith back on the team, as a paladin. It just didn’t feel right going on missions without him there. But alas, there were six paladins and only five lions. One paladin too many. Lance supposed that having Keith go on Blade missions, and not seeing him for weeks on end, was better than Keith being dead. Lance guessed he would take what he could get. He just wished he could spend more time with the quiet, pragmatic man.

It appeared that Lance’s prayers were answered a few days later, when Allura called the team, including Lotor, to the bridge. Upon his arrival, donning his paladin armour, Lance was surprised by the presence of Kolivan and four other members of the Blade. They had their masks off, and Lance briefly met gazes with Keith, clad in his dark uniform. They exchanged smiles, but quickly turned their attention to Allura.

“Paladins, the presence of a nearby Galra base, located on a small planet a short distance away, has been brought to my attention by the Blades. We have decided to infiltrate the base in order to shut down its operations. The Galra appear to be manufacturing mass weaponry, and transporting it to a larger base via airship. The Blades have been undergoing reconnaissance for the past two quintants, and we feel that we have sufficient information to take action,” Allura explained, Shiro nodding in agreement with her words.

“Here’s the plan. The Blades will arrive first, and disable the external defences so that the Lions can enter the compound. Since the size of the base is small, we won’t take all of the Lions. Lotor, you can travel with me and Allura in Black, and help us take out the soldiers. According to the Blades’ reconnaissance, the base will be teeming with Galra, so we’ll need all the help we can get,” Shiro explains. Lotor gives a stern nod, one corner of his mouth curling upward with anticipation. “Allura, Lotor and I will arrive first, and land Black in the empty hangar to the right of the main hallway,” Shiro pauses, and Allura pulls up a holographic sketch map of the base. The empty hangar is coloured black while the majority of the map is coloured purple. Everyone steps closer to the hologram in the center of the room.

Shiro continues, “The three of us will reach the main control room first and take care of the soldiers in there. Pidge, Hunk, you two will travel together in the Green Lion, and enter the compound from the rear entrance. This is a smaller area, so only the Green Lion will fit. You can use its cloaking feature to get past any sentries there. You two will land Green and keep it hidden on the small platform to the right of the rear entrance.” Shiro points to the platform highlighted green on the hologram. It appears to be so high up that anyone on the ground would have a hard time seeing it. “After you two have landed up there, you’ll head down the ladder and go down the hallway to your right, which leads directly to the main control room. By then, the rest of us will have taken down the sentries. You’ll need to disable the technology controlling the cargo airships - this is important as it will cause them to malfunction, thus preventing weapon transport. Understand?”

Pidge and Hunk both nod. Pidge mock salutes, “No problem. What should we do once we’re finished?”

“Once the Galra realise that their systems are being tampered with, they’ll likely head to the main control room to see what’s going on. If Allura, Lotor and I haven’t already taken care of all of them, you’ll need to help us do so.” Shiro then turns to Lance. “Lance, I’ll need you to destroy the four communication towers in each corner of the base. This will prevent the soldiers from contacting other bases once they’ve realised their airships are out of commission,” Shiro points out the four tall towers on the map, highlighted in red.

Lance smirks, “Alright! Red and I can flame ‘em using her awesome firepower.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that,” Allura speaks up. “The towers have been constructed using a highly durable material, one that is invulnerable to fire. In addition, the fire would quickly alert all of the sentries in the area, which would be less than favourable for you. First, you’ll need to land Red outside the compound, near the external defences. Wait until the Blades have disabled them before landing. Each tower is operated by a set of controls, located near the top. You’ll need to climb up using the ladder on the inside, reach the control panel, and disable communications by pressing the large red button. It’s imperative that you be as stealthy as possible for this, Lance. Can you do it?”

“Of course!” Lance activates his red bayard, transforming it into a sniper rifle and resting it against his right shoulder. “I’ll be as sneaky as a ninja.” He points the rifle at various around the room, adding sound effects for added theatrics. He gets a few chuckles from the others.

Shiro smiles amusedly, then gestures to Kolivan’s group. “After the Blades have disabled the external defences, they’ll go to where the weapon manufacturing is taking place. The room will be in the west wing of the base. Once they have destroyed the machinery there, they’ll be returning to the ship. We’ll all keep in touch via comm, and rendezvous back here.”

“Are there any questions?” Allura enquired. When no-one spoke up, she spoke, “Alright, let’s go. Kolivan, we’ll wait for your signal. Good luck.”

“The same to you,” Kolivan replied. He and the rest of the Blades activated their masks, and Kolivan said, “Head to the pod.” The five hastily left the room.

“Pidge, Hunk, head to Green. Lance, get to Red. Allura, Lotor and I will meet you outside the castle. Black already has the coordinates for the planet so you’ll need to stay close,” Shiro informed. “Coran, stay on the bridge and keep the ship close by in case we need backup.”

“Alright. Good luck, paladins!” Coran clenched his fist and swung his arm in a sweeping motion, standing in a heroic pose. “Show those soldiers who’s boss!”

“Let’s get a move on,” Shiro commanded. Lance put on his helmet and headed to the right exit, which lead directly to the Red Lion’s hangar. He entered the lion and it stood up, eyes glowing a fierce yellow.

“Hey Red,” Lance spoke affectionately, petting the console softly. He heard the lion purr in response, the noise reverberating in his mind. “Let’s go kick some Galra butt!” They left the castle, spotting Black and Green hovering close by. Kolivan’s voice filtered through on the comms.

“Approaching the base now.” Lance heard sounds of exertion and flesh hitting flesh following Kolivan’s statement. 

“Let’s start heading to the planet, team,” Shiro said. The Black Lion turned and began flying away from the castle. Lance instructed Red to follow, flanking Black’s right side while Green flanked the left.

Lance heard Kolivan speak up again. “We’ve taken care of the sentries. Disabling gun turrets now.” About half a minute later, he said, “External defences disabled. We’ll wait for you to arrive before heading to the weapon manufacturing room.”

“We’ll be there in about a dobosh,” Shiro spoke. Lance could only just make out the Galra-controlled planet, directly up ahead. As the lions approached the planet, Lance’s thoughts drifted to Keith. He hoped that he would come out of this mission unscathed. Shiro instructed, “Alright team, get into position. Hunk, Pidge, activate Green’s cloaking device and circle around the back of the base. Lance, land Red next to one of those disabled gun turrets.”

The three of them vocalised their affirmation. Lance watched the Black Lion head through the compound. The huge and imposing lion wreaked havoc on the area with its powerful lasers, leaving a dozen soldiers unconscious in its wake. Lance steered Red towards the southwestern-most turret, and they landed on the planet softly. He ensured that the lion was well-hidden by hiding Red on the outside of the tall wall that surrounded the compound, next to the gun turret. He dropped down to the ground from its huge muzzle, and set his sights on the tall tower closest to him. It looked about ten metres tall - Lance thanked his lucky stars that he had no fear of heights. On top of the tower was a huge satellite, tilted upwards at a forty-five degree angle. He went over the plan in his head again: get inside, climb up the ladder, press the big red button. Repeat three more times. Piece of cake! Lance knew this would be too easy.

He reached the tower, and activated his bayard. He carefully pried open the small door, and peeked his head through. No Galra were there. Mentally fist-pumping, he deactivated his bayard and hung it on his belt, by his hip. He began the slow climb up the tower. Looking up, the ladder seemed to stretch on for kilometres. “Wow… now I’m really glad I’m not afraid of heights,” he muttered to himself.

Humming as he went, he eventually reached the top of the ladder, and climbed onto the small platform next to him. The platform was small in width, but circled all the way around to the other side of the ladder. In the center of the room was the control panel, a confusing array of buttons and dials displayed on the console. He slowly wandered all the way around the console, eyes searching for the red button he needed to press. He spotted it on the complete opposite side to the ladder he climbed up, a large, square button labelled ‘Disable’. He pressed it and heard sounds of mechanical whirring coming from above his head. Suddenly, Coran’s voice came through on the comms.

“The first communication tower has gone offline! Good work, Lance,” the man’s eccentric accent filtered through Lance’s helmet.

“Nice work, Lance!” Shiro added on. “Pidge, Hunk, we’ve almost cleared the control room. What’s your location?”

“On our way, Shiro. We ran into a couple of soldiers, but we took care of them,” Hunk replied.

“Shiro, we’re almost at the manufacturing room,” Kolivan informed.

“Alright, keep us updated,” Shiro said.

Lance began his descent, wishing that Red was small enough to fit inside the towers. It sure would save him a lot of time. Once he was on the ground again, he exited and closed the door behind him. ‘One down, three to go,’ he thought. He activated his bayard and jogged across the outskirts of the base to the next tower. Disabling the second and third towers went off without a hitch. “This is too easy!” Lance whooped as he clambered down the ladder of the third tower.

“We’ve dismantled the machinery in the manufacturing room. Heading back to the ship now,” Kolivan spoke.

“Great work; see you back there. Pidge, how’s the hacking coming along?” Lance heard Shiro say.

“We’re almost done; just a little bit more,” she replied.

Lance heard various grunts and shouts coming from Allura, Lotor and Shiro, and hoped that they weren’t having too much trouble with the Galra soldiers in there. “Is everything going alright in there, guys?” he enquired.

He heard Allura call, “On your right!” and heard her bayard swishing and slicing. “Yes, everything’s fine, although we may have underestimated the amount of soldiers in the base,” Allura’s voice sounded strained from effort. Lance listened to Shiro and Lotor’s panting over the comms, and paused outside the last tower. Before he could ask if they needed backup, Keith beat him to it.

“Need some help?” he heard slashing and clinking sounds coming over the comms. Sounds like Keith had arrived! The team sounded surprised, yet relieved, to have some backup.

“We were headed back to the castle when we thought you might need some assistance,” Kolivan called out. Lance realised that all of the Blades were there, not just Keith.

He opened the door to the last tower and started to climb the ladder. If he could just get this last tower offline, he could go to help his friends. He reached the top and stepped onto the platform. “I’m disabling the last towe-” Lance’s words were cut off as he became startlingly aware of the huge Galra soldier in front of him. He was standing straight-on to Lance, gun in his right hand as if he had been expecting the paladin. Lance could hear the confused, concerned tones over the comms, but his sheer terror made it impossible to concentrate on them. It felt as though a bucket of ice had been poured over his head, the cold spreading throughout his chest and travelling outward.

“So you’re the little squirt who’s been disabling the comm towers,” the soldier spoke with a gruff, gravelly voice. Lance looked up at his face, and saw a sharp canine peek out from between his lips, as his mouth twisted into a devious smirk. “You will die here, paladin. Let your lifeless, bloody corpse be a message to your friends.” The soldier held his gun up and fired at Lance’s chest. Lance had recovered from his shock - the soldier had caught him off-guard - and swiftly activated his shield on reflex. The gunshot was absorbed by the shield, and Lance advanced quickly, kicking the Galra’s left leg out from underneath him. He shouted in anger as he fell on his back, and kicked his legs out towards Lance’s chest. Lance tumbled backwards, twisting to the side to soften the blow. He knew he wasn’t the best at close combat, and needed to put some distance between him and the soldier in order to get a good shot with his bayard. 

He rolled over backwards, landing on his feet with the central console between him and the soldier. Over the comms, he heard Keith say, “Something’s wrong. Lance, what’s happening?” He had no time to reply as the hulking Galra was stalking towards him, throwing a clenched fist at his cheek. He fell backwards as pain blossomed up his cheekbone. He threw up his shield as the soldier aimed another punch at his stomach, the top of the shield resting just underneath his chin as he worked to protect his body. The Galra changed his strategy, instead bearing down on the shield with both arms. He pushed it down onto Lance, the top of the shield pressing painfully on his windpipe. The soldier noticed this, and pushed down more and more, causing Lance to cry out with a strangled, rasping noise. “Lance!” he heard shouts over the comm as his lungs began to burn.

“Coran, can you locate Lance?” Keith asked desperately.

After a long pause, Lance heard Coran say, “He’s in the northwest tower!” Lance panicked, Keith couldn’t come up here! This Galra was too dangerous; Keith would be put in grave danger if he tried to face him. As Lance lay there, he supposed that if he died, Keith would pilot Red in his stead. He knew Keith was a far better pilot than him. Even with Lance gone, there would still be five paladins to pilot the lions.

Despite this, Lance didn’t want to die. Not yet. He wanted to die old, in his bed, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He didn’t want to die before he returned to Earth. He didn’t want to die before he could be reunited with his family again. But in that moment, the worry at the forefront of his mind was that he was going to die before he told Keith how he felt about him.

With a gargantuan effort, he lifted his legs up and pushed his feet against the Galra’s stomach. Caught off-guard, he lifted his arms from Lance’s shield, allowing sweet, precious air to fill the paladin’s lungs once again. He deactivated his shield and used his bayard to shoot the Galra in the chest. Although his armour protected him somewhat, the impact caused the soldier to cry out, laying back against the wall, unresponsive. Looking up at the console, Lance could see the red square button glowing brightly. He slammed his hand down on it, hearing the tell-tale whirring of the satellite shutting down.

“The last tower has been disabled!” Coran said with surprise. Cheers and hoots came over the comm. A chorus of praises came from the other paladins. With a tired smile, Lance slumped over, back against the console. His eyes shifted downward, head tilting down as he struggled to catch his breath. His throat was still aching from earlier.

“Lance, are you alright?” he heard Shiro ask.

“Y…yeah,” he wheezed in reply. Quiznack, his voice sounded like sandpaper. He wondered if the castle’s infirmary had any cough drops.

“Good, head back to your lion. The rest of us have almost reached ours. We’ll see you back at the castle,” Shiro spoke. Lance blinked a few times, and moved to stand up.

The sound of a gunshot echoed around the small room.

Immense pain exploded in his stomach, his vision blacking out. He drew in a raspy breath and let it out in a long scream. If he hadn’t been in such agony, he would’ve been terrified of the blood-curdling noise he just made. He was pretty sure the team was bombarding him with questions, words, worries, but the pain blocked out all of it. He opened an eye to peer at the Galra soldier, sat up against the wall, a gun still outstretched. Lance supposed he had been pretending to be unconscious - a clever strategy. He saw the gun charging up again, the soldier’s finger slowly curling in on the trigger, and his eyes slipped shut. This was it. He knew he would die here. Lance waited for the tell-tale sound of a gunshot.

None came.

A grunt was heard, and Lance opened his eyes to see Keith punching the soldier’s face. He knocked the Galra to the ground, and loomed over him. Lance may have only been half-conscious, but he could see the sheer rage on Keith’s face, as clear as day. He had a furrow in his brow and anger could be seen in his beautiful purple eyes. His teeth were bared in a snarl as he glared down at the Galra soldier. He drew his blade and hastily stabbed the soldier in the chest. Blood splattered all over the floor, and a metallic stench filled the room. Keith pulled the blade out and stabbed the soldier again, over and over, until Lance’s weak coughs caught his attention. Keith retracted his blade, put it away and fell to his knees at Lance’s side.

“Lance… Lance come on, let’s get out of here,” he said softly, brows scrunched up slightly in concern.

“No… no, you have to get out of here, I can’t… I can’t make it down the ladder like this,” Lance drawled quietly. His exhaustion was palpable in the way he spoke, taking several pauses to catch his breath.

Keith frowned. “No, I’m not leaving you here,” he lightly grasped Lance’s left hand in his right as he spoke. The two of them met gazes.

“Just… do it, there’s no.. point in trying to g-get me out,” Lance said, eyes locked with Keith’s in a soft stare. Keith looked down at Lance’s stomach. Blood was still slowly oozing out of the wound on his lower right abdomen, dripping onto the floor where a small puddle had already formed.

An idea struck Keith. It had been a while since he had flown Red, but the two still shared a strong bond. He could still feel its presence in the back of his mind, and let the intense, fiery feeling of his lion flood through him, the familiar warmth putting him at ease.

‘Red? I know it’s been a while, but I need your help. Lance… Lance needs your help. Please..’ he called out to his lion using the mental bond they shared. He heard a faint roar coming from the ground some distance away, and smiled. Red knew exactly what he was thinking. Their two minds were connected, as one.

Keith turned his attention back to Lance, who was looking more than a little worse for wear. His face had gone pale and clammy and his breathing had become slightly more shallow than before. Keith let go of Lance’s hand and said, “I’m going to try to slow the bleeding, okay?” Lance nodded, breath leaving his lungs in a slight huff.

“This is… this is gonna hurt, isn’t it?” Lance said. Although he was in pain, he was over the moon that Keith was here, with him in what may very well have been his final moments.

“Uh… yeah, it’s gonna hurt. But it’ll be alright, we’re getting out of here. Just hold on a little longer, Lance. Keep those eyes open,” Keith spoke with slight urgency. When Keith pressed his shaking hands to Lance’s stomach, Lance tried his hardest not to cry out. He really did. But the pain was so intense that he couldn’t help but open his mouth in a pained shout. He panted hard as he tried to keep his groans to a minimum. He could hear Keith apologising frantically, over and over again, stumbling over his words.

As his cries died down, his could hear his breaths become more laboured. He was sure Keith picked up on it too. Both of them jumped as a quiet clang sounded over their heads; Lance thought it sounded like metal meeting metal. As he started to panic, Keith softly shushed him with a faint smile on his face.

“That’ll be our ride,” he said. Lance was confused, but at least now he was convinced that the sound wasn’t from an enemy out for their blood. Keith withdrew from Lance and stood up, reaching up to pull down a small hatch in the roof. Lance hadn’t even noticed that it was there. Keith’s constant awareness of his surroundings never ceased to amaze Lance.

“Alright, you’re going to have to help me out here, buddy,” Keith said.

Lance spluttered in indignation; did Keith expect him to jump to his feet and climb onto the roof with a hole in his stomach? As he started to voice his concern, Keith laughed quietly, eyes twinkling softly with mirth, and said, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

A thin, brown rope dropped through the hatch above them, and Lance squinted his eyes at the hole, trying to see who their saviour was. All he could see was red. Keith got to work straight away, tying a loop in the bottom of the rope to act as a foothold. Once he checked that the knot was secure enough, he turned to Lance, still propped up against the wall. “Let’s get you out of here,” Keith looked down at him. He helped him to his feet, both of them mindful of Lance’s injury. Lance did his best to ignore the sharp pain in his lower stomach. Keith and slipped Lance’s foot through the loop in the rope.

“Try and keep your hand on the wound, alright?” Keith spoke, lifting Lance’s right hand to his stomach. Lance hissed in pain. “Sorry,” Keith softly uttered, eyes filled with guilt and worry.

Keith stepped away and Lance was lifted off the ground. He hunched over slightly to lessen the pain. He was pulled through the hatch in the ceiling and looked up to see the huge face of the beautiful Red Lion, rope extended from the hatch in the lion’s chest. Lance was in awe. His feet touched the roof, and he gingerly stepped away from the rope to allow Red to pull Keith up. Without the rope to support him, he fell onto his back, right hand lightly pressing down on his wound. Lance was close to passing out, from the pain and blood loss, when he saw Keith emerging from the room below. He fought to keep his eyes open.

“Lance! Lance, come on buddy, stay awake,” Keith said in a panicked tone, hastily kneeling at Lance’s side.

“..Hurts…” was all Lance could say in response.

“I know, I know it hurts, but we gotta get back to the castle so we can get you into a healing pod,” Keith replied, a frown on his face. He leaned closer to brush the hair out of Lance’s eyes, smoothing back the silky brown locks. Their eyes met for a moment. “Come on,” Keith was the first to break eye contact. He bent down and scooped Lance up in his arms, one arm looping under his knees and the other wrapping around his upper back. Lance’s head rested on Keith’s chest, a quiet exhale leaving him. Keith did his best not to jostle Lance too much lest he worsen his injury.

The two of them entered Red, Keith carefully cradling Lance in his arms. He set Lance down in the pilot’s chair while he fetched a pillow and blanket from a compartment in the back of Red. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for stocking the lion with a survival kit all those months ago. Picking up Lance again, Keith set him down on top of the blanket. He gently picked up his head, pulling his blue helmet off and sliding the pillow underneath him. “Are you comfortable?” he asked the boy.

“Heh. As comfortable as I can be with a hole in my stomach,” Lance replied weakly, a small smile on his face.

Keith chuckled. “Alright, sharpshooter, let’s get you back to the castle,” he smiled, a gloved hand smoothing back Lance’s hair again.

Lance watched Keith stand and move over to the pilot seat. He stood there, looking at the chair for a moment, and Lance remembered that the boy hadn’t piloted Red since before Shiro went missing. He watched with admiration as Keith sat down, the scene looking unusual with Keith clad in his dark Blade uniform rather than his usual red armour.

Lance felt Red’s thrusters powering up and the lion lifted off of the ground. He couldn’t believe that Keith had gotten Red to land on top of the comm tower, perched on the roof like a cat on a fence. The pair really made a great team. Lance’s eyelids began to droop, the drowsiness he had felt earlier increasing tenfold. The gentle rumbling he felt beneath him was beginning to coax him to fall into a deep slumber.

Keith turned on his comm, telling the team, “I’ve got Lance. We’re heading back to the castle now. Lance got shot in the stomach; he’s lost a lot of blood. Can you prepare a healing pod?” Worried murmurs flooded his ears.

“Will do, Keith. Is he alright?” Shiro queried. Keith turned, peering at Lance over his shoulder.

“He’s passed out,” Keith said, a tremor in his voice. He willed Red to go faster, desperately hoping that the Cuban boy he had grown fond of was just sleeping. ‘You’ll be fine, Lance,’ Keith thought to himself. ‘You’re safe now. I’ll get you to a pod, and you’ll be just fine.’


End file.
